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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
* K+ V- a( `* G5 U8 Q r+ wTrump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
Z7 B9 `& H0 F8 @' sthe merits. 2 `) t5 I2 C$ H- Q4 S
By David Boies
# U% R. `4 E5 s3 SMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that : B: }! E+ D" m8 q" r# e
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
, R5 L' Y$ @/ ?Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
8 t- }( x$ Y5 v' D/ w# w: VAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
& N( g) S% [- d |( ?& P: |left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
* m2 K6 W: r2 N# }address. . t- J, r# Y, E( R$ l. u& V+ R
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
, M/ o% D( L" l9 M( XIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
+ R5 w' q* U! Y2 q2 `+ xnuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
" c' y" \% L$ U. F, A; R( N# _that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
& q( e& j2 e! x3 F. k1 LTrump began the current military campaign.
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous ( Z0 T( U6 W% K/ [
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
}# y+ G5 C9 ~+ Y, Enow hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
' O- b% o$ D$ dor Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. 2 i$ S% |; B4 d3 `2 w2 M
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
' S9 Y% s" f$ d- u0 Streasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
p R u8 V( n$ Sseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? 4 P' n4 @+ t7 w3 u
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Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear % w* b" r' h1 C
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
! S' Q& G! T! T1 \and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
- \% Z, K: l* E- ]; x. c. Wmuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
+ t/ d& C/ l0 H0 Z# `$ {4 Zto permit them to increase further.
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For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve
$ O5 `. A6 ^/ Y3 @; x' {/ I4 \0 @tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
& }; c0 ~2 p7 `5 w# s- X% ]+ ssanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
9 W( N, @& N& |; c0 T: W; N) Runderstand.
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* N/ f- P. U- ^ ]' ^I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the 9 k0 v% Y2 a. |5 z: h3 ?
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the 6 | _5 h( u6 V2 z
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
% {' L5 P8 i5 j8 O- rthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One $ y% r! T8 s) @! k- o
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or ) D7 \5 k' V n
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, ( j4 l0 m. K! U5 ~) o4 n
to devastate a city. ; p, @1 G+ B" F! T
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel ! o5 l2 C+ |" y+ t& b
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. 7 P+ K' \1 t" k' T" K
6 S* J- h: M7 W* m' m" j( SWhat is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
+ D8 w7 l: d7 b" Q- F3 b' srooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
3 [+ j, C4 ^: g" w+ mat the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
7 E! }/ _6 x \# A& o6 ypresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
4 \) ?& S- e, d) S ^President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our ; a' V4 w) }: v$ O) ]: W
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. 3 f. B* U% z' o% Z
+ t+ A8 C: F) Y: p8 \More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the 2 @2 w+ q8 O9 N" N7 A2 S9 r
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
; h5 i' B( @( k2 M8 ~. T0 f0 dRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in $ F% ], {' a4 G+ {4 e
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in : ^1 H0 y A7 ?& z$ @
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
. Q# Y& U3 o6 e6 V( Osupported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam.
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9 C3 R* d- \0 M+ Q* n4 u! QMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
; X9 G# @& D2 j$ e% P7 l/ e/ N! Malmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the 2 C% M# {* u* J) Q, D+ G; k4 n7 }# v
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
! G R; ^1 e! }0 C: F2 e ~even if it means a loss for America. 9 J; O8 j3 V- `" ` s
) n7 N' `3 j& l& E/ `- r: iWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It ( u$ h2 [1 f: {7 I F) ?, V
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
" C& A- i+ @0 ]! ~$ `2 Q5 \elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
7 j. ^: E- Q0 J* y7 P0 t8 hwas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the 2 s- N/ D: n: i5 a5 ^9 |
popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to 6 D! R% c! R* y$ @9 ]5 R" `6 I: s
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the - x% d4 n6 W2 N$ `
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
7 r* [& `3 ?+ q' a% ]" _& W7 URepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and # x' x6 X; {/ u* w
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
4 [% i9 s/ _' e V! e9 ?of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to ! g, R! X/ k# |3 a( v3 k% \; D
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we 9 W+ s6 t$ L! z' E7 }
owe it to ourselves, our country and our children. B' L% ?# d- p- ~2 T
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If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
* C. v, e3 s2 X, r# Mmission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we 1 B% f5 g8 N" s9 A4 X: g9 e
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse . t3 M# w2 f9 D' [7 o/ S( I
for it. 8 F2 ?* J' P6 E$ \/ Q' D. K
4 y' |# W% b( |America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
* }5 m* F0 q4 v' W0 BDemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action 5 s6 y: p. _! z2 X1 b" }2 }% y) h+ j! ^
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
# x2 B! t2 c; B( |9 c9 cmaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will 9 E3 o: f# \! k& S* }( i
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
{+ n1 W6 s) w; f. h+ Jand not merely obstruct. & y. m" `1 b! o. K' P" f8 ~; I
: s$ U0 o$ G1 F9 b, N5 IIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
6 r1 F' L( u5 P0 ithis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
( f. e, ]5 n& V, j1 b6 u3 hadmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we ; c! Z4 F- k* M: w
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not 4 R8 k) d/ v! n8 b4 c9 }
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they 8 m% B% V j9 l# X5 O+ ]
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
$ L6 U2 m0 H% ?+ y& U' y# m( YDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president.
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Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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